Shadow of the Blood Fiend

The next day, dawn had barely broken.

Qingyang City had already exploded into an uproar.

The Zhao Family's alchemy hall had been burned down, suffering devastating losses. Their first-rank alchemist guest had been so enraged that he vomited blood and fainted on the spot, still unconscious.

An elite guard of the Li Family had died miserably in the street.

And the most explosive news was that someone had found the Zhao Family's stolen rare medicinal herbs in the back alley of the Wang Family's Four Seas Money House, along with a money pouch belonging to the Li Family!

Both witnesses and physical evidence were present!

For a time, rumors sprang up everywhere, clamor rising to the heavens.

"Have you heard? The Li Family launched a night raid on the Zhao Family last night. Not only did they kill someone, they even set fire to the alchemy hall!"

"More than that! I heard the Wang Family was involved too! The saber wounds on that Li Family guard were left by the Wang Family's Blood Fiend Saber Technique!"

"My heavens! Weren't these three families allied? Why were they fighting among themselves?"

"What allies? It was all for profit! If you ask me, the Wang Family and Li Family joined hands to swallow up the Zhao Family!"

All manner of speculation spread wildly through the city's teahouses and taverns, shoving an already tense situation into an even more chaotic abyss.

The relationship between the three great families instantly fell to freezing point.

Patriarch Li and Patriarch Zhao arrived with large forces, aggressively blocking the entrance to the Wang Family Mansion and demanding an explanation from Wang Wei.

Wang Wei could not defend himself even with a hundred mouths, and he was so furious he nearly fainted on the spot.

He knew he had been played!

That damned Chen Family Remnant had led him around by the nose!

That little beast had never left the city. Like a venomous snake hidden in a gutter, he had used the most vicious scheme to effortlessly dismantle the alliance between the three families and make them slaughter one another!

"Chen! Chen!"

Wang Wei let out a beast-like roar in the council hall.

Only now did he finally feel true fear.

This opponent was not only terrifyingly powerful—his mind was monstrous beyond measure!

Chen Chen paid no heed to the storms raging outside.

He was in Uncle Fu's courtyard, taking stock of another important gain from the previous night.

It was an old book he had casually "taken" from the ruins of the Zhao Family's alchemy hall.

The situation had been chaotic at the time. He had merely felt that, since the alchemist had kept this book in the most central position, it had to be extraordinary, so he had taken it with him.

Now, after brushing away the dust, four ancient, simple characters came into view.

Introduction to Alchemy.

It was a tome that recorded foundational knowledge of alchemy.

Chen Chen opened its pages and was immediately drawn in by the profound content within.

Medicinal principles, control of the flames, sovereign, minister, assistant, and guide ingredients, pill formulas... a brand-new, wondrous world slowly opened its gates before him.

Though he still could not refine pills, much of the knowledge in the book gave him a clearer understanding of his future path of cultivation.

In particular, some of the methods recorded within for identifying and processing medicinal herbs were priceless to him.

"Good stuff."

Chen Chen carefully stored the book in his storage bag.

He picked up the intelligence Uncle Fu had just delivered and read it carefully.

The report detailed how the three great families had turned against one another, as well as the direction public opinion in the city was taking.

Everything was proceeding according to his plan.

In fact, the results were even better than he had expected.

The Wang Family had now become isolated and helpless, cowering within their residence and not daring to make another move.

"It's time to send them one final grand gift."

A chill flashed through Chen Chen's eyes.

He still needed two hundred cultivation points to initiate a "perfect breakthrough."

And the entire Wang Family Mansion was his final "cultivation resource."

However, just as he was preparing to formulate his next plan of action, a piece of information at the end of the report caught his attention.

"According to a secret informant within the Wang Family, Wang Wei has recently been entering and leaving the lineage's forbidden ground, the 'Blood Pool,' with great frequency, seemingly conducting some kind of evil ritual. At the same time, the informant mentioned that, three days from now, an Emissary from a Superior Sect will descend upon the Wang Family."

Blood Pool? Emissary from a Superior Sect?

Chen Chen's brows knitted tightly together.

He recalled what the mysterious White-robed Woman had said in the Black Wind Mountain Range.

"The Wang Family of Qingyang City has colluded with the Blood Fiend Tower, bringing calamity upon the region. They deserve to die a thousand deaths."

Blood Fiend Tower!

Could this so-called "Emissary from a Superior Sect" be someone from the Blood Fiend Tower?

A terrifying conjecture surfaced in his heart.

Perhaps the Wang Family was not a native force of Qingyang City at all. They were merely a chess piece planted in Qingyang City by the larger, more sinister Blood Fiend Tower!

The Wang Family's rapid rise over the years and their massacre of the Chen Family likely both bore the shadow of the Blood Fiend Tower!

This discovery made Chen Chen's heart sink at once.

His enemy was far more powerful than he had imagined!

If an emissary from the Blood Fiend Tower arrived, that person would certainly be in the Qi Condensation Realm, or perhaps even stronger!

With his current strength at the Ninth Level of Body Tempering, opposing such a person would be like an egg striking a stone.

"Three days..."

Unprecedented gravity and resolve flashed through Chen Chen's eyes.

He did not have much time left.

Before that so-called emissary arrived, he had to eliminate the Wang Family and complete his breakthrough!

The plan had to change!

He could no longer cut away their wings one by one as before.

He needed an action as thunderous as ten thousand bolts, a single battle to settle all beneath heaven!

"Uncle Fu!" Chen Chen called out gravely.

"This old servant is here!" Uncle Fu immediately pushed open the door and entered.

"I need the most detailed map of the Wang Family Mansion, including the location of the forbidden ground, the 'Blood Pool.' Also, do everything possible to get me some Fire Luring Thunder. The more, the better!"

Fire Luring Thunder was a low-grade talisman creation. Its power was not great, but when detonated, it created an enormous spectacle, enough to sow chaos.

Uncle Fu's expression changed. "Young Master, you intend to... launch a direct assault on the Wang Family Mansion?"

"No." Chen Chen shook his head, madness gleaming in his eyes.

"Not a direct assault."

"I'm going to wipe the entire Wang Family completely off Qingyang City's map!"

"I'm going to turn that residence into a true... scorched wasteland!"

He rose to his feet and gazed toward the Wang Family Mansion in the distance, as though he could already see flames soaring into the heavens.

Meanwhile.

Wang Family Mansion, forbidden ground—the Blood Pool.

The place was dark and damp, the air saturated with a dense stench of blood.

An enormous pool occupied the entire underground chamber.

What churned within was not water, but thick, evil-smelling... blood!

Countless resentful souls rose and sank within the Blood Pool, wailing in agony.

Wang Wei sat cross-legged on a stone platform in the center of the Blood Pool. His face was pale, but his eyes were abnormally fervent.

Before him floated a blood-colored heart the size of a human head, beating without cease.

The heart seemed alive. With every beat, it absorbed the vast blood energy within the Blood Pool.

"Soon... almost there..."

Wang Wei muttered to himself, his voice hoarse and crazed.

"As long as the Blood Fiend Demonic Heart reaches completion, I'll ascend to the heavens in a single step and enter Qi Condensation! At that time, let alone a mere Chen Family Remnant, even the whole of Qingyang City will submit beneath my feet!"

"Chen Chen... just you wait! The day I emerge from seclusion will be the day your soul and spirit are utterly destroyed!"

He did not know that the future he longed for no longer existed.

Because Chen Chen's final judgment was about to arrive.